Veterans Charity Scammer Gets Prison Time

By Associated Press&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Wed 1:19 PM, Nov 14, 2012

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A suburban Detroit man who authorities say collected money for fake veterans' charities he created has been sentenced to 17 months to 10 years in prison. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says Wednesday that 37-year-old Neil Thrasher of Oakland County's West Bloomfield Township also is ordered to pay $74,400 in restitution to Paralyzed Veterans of America and Disabled American Veterans. Thrasher was sentenced Nov. 7. He pleaded no contest on Oct. 3 in Oakland County Circuit Court to two counts of embezzlement from a charitable organization and one count of violation of the Charitable Solicitation Act. Schuette says Thrasher -- claiming to help disabled veterans -- collected more than $180,000 from 2009 to April 2012 through telemarketing. Much of the money was used at athletic clubs, liquor stores and restaurants.

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